Residents need local control of high schools

Probably more than 90 percent of Bonner County parents have definite ideas and can agree on what constitutes an acceptable high school education and student activities. Shouldn't that consensus be in control?

Suppose a man came to Sandpoint and said, "I will pay 6 cents on the dollar of your education budget if you will give me control of your curriculum. Let me mandate deceptive sex education classes, institute filth in literature, install my programs which violate your moral standards and upbringing, use procedures to dumb down your students so they can hardly read and intimidate your school board with threats of punishment if they protest."

If stated that clearly, would Bonner County parents think that was a good deal just to save that small amount?

That 6 cents is federal funding or "grants" to our schools. Here is the rest of the story — they take that 6 cents from our pockets in the first place!

Along with federal funding comes programs of imposed federal standards, cultural changes desired by certain elite in Washington, D.C., the undercurrent of their immorality and dishonesty, their "ethics," pipelining their values into our children.

If Bonner County parents and taxpayers want any voice in the education of our children, we must dissolve the bad bargain we have made for the 6 cents.

To offset that budget loss, the school board becomes free to dissolve those imposed programs and dismiss their proponents.

It is irrational to accept the cheap bribe of federal funding, then try to debate values with them.

ANDY HARRIS

Hope